Tag: Stephen Colbert

Episode 015

– allergy season is here; sneezing like crazy the past few days; I like the weather turning warmer, but I could do without the constant sneezing; let’s see if I can get through this podcast without having to sneeze too much.

– and the warmer weather didn’t last; today’s rain and cold temps, which I like to call extended winter, mean it’s an all indoors day today.

News – Story 1: David Letterman Announces Retirement from “Late Show”

– Stephen Colbert is his replacement; evidently Letterman and CBS head Les Moonves both pegged Colbert as their top choice; I had thought Craig Ferguson host at the “Late Late Show” would have been considered; Craig hints at leaving when Letterman leaves; Colbert will drop his current persona as a right wing talk show host and just be himself when he starts his hosting duties in 2015; I like him, although I admit to liking Jon Stewart a bit more; regardless, Colbert should do well to take the Late Show into the next many years of broadcast; David Letterman started his career as a talk radio host and moved to TV as a weatherman; He helmed the Late Show hosting gig on NBC for years before getting passed up by Jay Leno for the coveted Tonight Show spot after Johnny Carson retired; he made his home at CBS in 1993, where he’s had years of great ratings opposite his rival at NBC; At 67, he’s leaving on top and hope his last year will be just as memorable as the last 21 years.
– Link to article: Stephen Colbert to replace David Letterman on “Late Show”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toJywJhI5ag

News – Story 2: Pharrell Williams Performs at Coachella 2014

– this year’s breakout set had the singer joined on stage by Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Busta Rhymes, Gwen Stefani and Puff Daddy, and of course his Arby’s hat; I’m not a big fan, but like his sound; and I liked his mixed set of both his songs and other’s like “Hot in Herre” and Jay-Z’s “I Just Wanna Love You”; and of course, the crowd went nuts for the uber producer’s his biggest and most recent hit “Happy”; Coachella is held in Indio, CA every April; it’s two weekends, so if you can score a ticket for next weekend, head out to the heat of the Palm Desert and catch acts like the reunited bands Outkast. The Toy Dolls and The Replacements; long time synth duo Pet Shop Boys, Arcade Fire, Broken Bells and Muse; I’ve never been, but would love to go one year.
– Link to article: Coachella Official Site

News – Story 3: Comcast and Time Warner Cable Merger

– Comcast is trying to purchase Time Warner in a combined deal worth $45 billion; Comcast is nation’s number one cable company and internet provider; Time Warner is number 2 in cable and number 3 in internet; merger will create a monopoly that hardly anyone can compete with; removing competition will allow Comcast to raise prices and reduce customer service, even if the company says that won’t happen after the merger; none of these mega mergers have been able to keep that promise; Senator Al Franken is the biggest opponent of this merger (and many others before it); Comcast gave illogical reasons why merger is good, like saying Netflix is a competitor – which is crazy since Netflix just paid Comcast to remove the restrictions they placed on their streaming service to those who use Comcast for internet access; also saying that 4G and LTE wireless from the cell phone providers as a competitor, which they can’t compete with speeds and price of the wired internet access Comcast provides; Comcast voted worst company in America; I have Comcast now; internet service is reliable, but cable TV service is poor with higher prices; we are cutting back our TV programming to keep our bill under $90 a month; looked at DirecTV, but holding off for now; hoping the government will block this merger, as they did with AT&T and T-Mobile; competition is important; we need fewer companies merging.
– Link to article: Al Franken Blasts Comcast Merger

RANT: The anti-vaccination talking heads need to shut the hell up

– specifically, Jenny McCarthy; her campaign against vaccinations is utter bullshit; her voice has done a lot of harm; and those who listen to her and have followed her advice have reversed a lot of progress; measles and mumps have returned in many areas of the US; we hadn’t heard of cases since the 70’s; now we have kids that are un-vaccinated that are exposing themselves to healthy kids and adults; listen to doctors and those who know what they are talking about; not a former Playboy Playmate; any autism fears are not warranted; so many improvements to vaccinations since the 50’s have made them safe and mandatory.

– the hate and racist comments were taking away from the article content; good for them to make this call; this is not a permanent change, the editorial staff is taking a look into how to better implement and manage comments to articles; many other sites have done something similar; I loathe seeing how negative people’s comments can be, especially so on tech sites like The Verge and Engadget; not sure why people feel the need to always hate and be negative.
– Link to article: Chicago Sun Times remove commenting